


Hold It Against Me

by nopuedo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Cop AU, M/M, criminal levi, officer erwin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-29 01:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3876814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nopuedo/pseuds/nopuedo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi only takes what he needs. And Erwin's just doing his job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your Name

**Author's Note:**

> Weeeeee! I love AUs. I'll try to finish the other things I've got going on right now, but I am finding this one pretty fun.  
> If you'd like to give me ideas or just say hello, please send me a message!  
> the-barkeep-is-my-spirit-animal.tumblr.com

Cash in hand. Stuff it in the backpack. Break for it.

Levi’s feet hit the pavement harder than they should have through the thin soles of his worn-out sneakers. He was already four blocks away, rounding the last corner until it was a straight shot home.

He skidded out of the alley and banked right—right into a set of shoulders that had no good reason to be that far above his head. World’s full of fucking giants.

The massive form grunted, more from surprise than the force of impact. Levi unstuck his cheek from the scratchy polyester. From the scratchy, navy blue polyester. Horror blossomed in his chest. Yep, that was definitely a utility belt around the giant’s waist.

Fuck.

He launched himself.

“HEY!” the voice boomed.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“HEY!!!”

There were footfalls and clattering behind him. He needed to figure out where to go. He couldn’t lead him home. He just needed to lose him for a while, but he was what? Maybe half a block behind him by the sound of his clamoring?

“Stop running!”

Levi chanced a glance over his shoulder and was surprised to find the officer fighting his way against the foot traffic more than a block behind him. Jeez, that voice really carried.

“Stop chasing me!” he called backward.

“I’ll stop chasing you if you stop running!” came the immediate response.

“And I’ll stop running if you stop chasing me,” Levi lobbed and turned forward again to navigate the streets. He ran another minute or so in confusion before he realized that he no longer knew where he was going.

He had run into a residential neighborhood, still assured of his pursuer by the chatter that came through the officer’s radio.

“Reported rob… Conven….sto…. San Pablo and fortieth”

“Male, early twent… Grey hoodie and dark jeans.”

Hah. Well, they never could get his age right.

He tapped into what felt like his last burst of speed, cutting into a tiny lane that he thought would take him back towards downtown. But he saw no square of light at the other end, only more darkn—

The ground was six inches from his face, then three, then none. Levi barely got his hands out in front of him before he fell hard on the cold asphalt. He then felt another, much larger weight on top of him, pinning him.

“That was you, wasn’t it?” the officer asked.

Levi said nothing while he strained under the weight, not that it made much of a difference.

The officer grabbed him by his collar and pulled him to his feet. He wriggled out of his grip and backed up against the brick wall.

Blue. Blue eyes. Then hair, lighter than any he had seen before. Then muscled biceps that seemed to stretch the polyester of his uniform within an inch of its cheap little life.

His head spun. _Focus, shithead_ he chided himself. He shifted his feet slightly, feeling the reassurance of the knife against his ankle. But, no. Not worth it. Not for the meager $200 that he had collected from the terrified cashier.

The officer had angled himself between Levi and his only escape. Levi didn’t really believe he’d make it, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try. He faked right and lunged left back toward the mouth of the lane, already calculating his next direction when he felt an explosion of pain in his kidney.

This time Levi couldn’t get his hands out in front of him. His knees gave out first, scraping along the ground as the asphalt ripped his jeans. He turned his head to the side to avoid breaking his nose, but that didn’t prevent his teeth from snapping shut with the impact and puncturing his tongue.

The officer was on top of him again, this time using his thighs to pin Levi’s arms to his sides. Levi wriggled again but found no leverage. When he felt his arm being grabbed, he attempted a swing but the angle afforded him no advantage and the officer caught his hand easily and trapped it and the other in cold steel.

“You’re a bit of a fighter,” the officer said without malice. He leaned down and his breath was hot in Levi’s ear. “Well, unfortunately for you, so am I.”

Even with his cheek pressed painfully against the hard ground, Levi’s mouth fell agape. Blood dribbled down his chin.

“Alright. Now let’s do this correctly.” Levi felt the officer straighten up, though his was still sitting on top of him.

“You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you.”

Levi twisted round, readying himself to spit in this pig’s face. His gaze fell upon those blue eyes again, certain but sad. He then roamed to the pewter nameplate and saw “Smith” stamped into the metal made to accommodate much longer names.

He instead spit on the ground.

“Fine, then. Smith,” Levi said evilly.

“Oh that won’t do at all,” said Officer Smith as he gathered the less-than-pliant accused and guided him out onto the street where a backup car was just arriving.


	2. My Name

His hand never left Levi’s shoulder as Officer Smith steered them through the hallways of the police station to Booking.

“Ah, Levi,” said the plump woman at the desk when they walked in. “It’s been a while. I’m never happy to see you, but well…” She smiled and started tapping away at her computer.

“I don’t need much from you since you’re already in the system. But we’ll update your profile photo,” she laughed at her own joke. “You’re looking a bit skinnier than last time.”

She turned her attention to the man detaining Levi, peering over the frames of her red-rimmed glasses. “I presume you are the arresting officer, Smith. I’ll need the details from you. But, first let’s get our little thief settled in.”

Officer Smith had managed to remain entirely passive until this point, but curiosity bubbled out of him.

“How do you know he’s a thief?”

“Oh he’s been in a few times before. Usually for small stuff. Was it any better this time, Levi? Was this your big heist?”

Levi kept his head down but the floor could have melted from the heat of his glare. Officer Smith could feel the faint vibration as he ground his teeth together.

“Enough of that. Let’s get you processed,” she decided.

\--

Tuesday nights were not exactly the hottest time to get arrested, so Levi had the holding cell to himself. His processing actually had been relatively quick—less than half an hour to get through booking. _Efficient when it doesn’t matter and can’t get their heads out of their asses when it does. Fan-fucking-tastic._

He curled himself up on the “bed.” Well, if it had actually been a bed, there was exactly zero percent chance that he would have touched it. But, he reasoned that the stainless steel sheet of metal jutting out of the wall probably had pretty decent antimicrobial properties. That was the shit they used for operating tables, right? Couldn’t be completely fucking disgusting. He faced the wall and used his hood to block out as much of the bright, overhead fluorescent light as possible.

He became so accustomed to the sound of passing footsteps and jangling keys that Levi didn’t even notice when, several hours later, a set of footsteps approached the cell and didn’t fade away.

“Hey.”

Maybe if he played dead whoever it was would leave him alone.

“Levi,” the voice insisted.

Guess not.

He rolled over, forgetting how thin the “bed” was and barely managing to swing his legs out to catch himself before he fell for the third time in one damn day.

Officer Smith stood on the other side, pushing a small bundle through the space between the bars.

“I brought you some clothes since yours are all bloodied and torn.”

Levi eyed him suspiciously but got up to retrieve the bundle nonetheless. He was less than fond of the crusty blood on his shirt or the way his jeans now let in a sizeable draught. He grabbed the clothes quickly, not trusting it not to be a trick.

“They’re clean. I made sure.”

“Why the fuck would you kn—“

“I had to talk to Dana—errr Officer Pechlant about the details anyway and I just asked her what she knew about you.”

Levi paused.

“Why are you doing this, Smith?”

“Ah. Well, I’m off duty now. It’s just Erwin,” he said as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “And you looked…cold.”

Levi would not dignify that. But he didn’t want to seem completely frigid, either.

“Fine, _Erwin_ ,” he said, drawing out the R sound with no small amount of sass. “You already know my name. And you know I like my shit to be clean. Congratulations, you’ve figured me out.”

Levi backed away from the bars and into a corner to change into the fresh clothes. He turned his back to the bars to signal the termination of their conversation. He pulled his hoodie over his head and although he couldn’t be entirely sure, he thought he heard an “I really doubt that” before the footsteps disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes there is some plot developing here! 
> 
> Come say hello!  
> the-barkeep-is-my-spirit-animal.tumblr.com


	3. Out

Levi made his phone call shortly after Erwin left. Afterward, he passed the night alone in the cell, somewhat comfortably using his soiled hoodie as a pillow.

He spent the next morning watching how the sunlight changed the angle of the bars’ shadows on the pale yellow linoleum floor. The shadows grew shorter and Levi idly wondered if he’d have to see them grow longer again, if people were true to their word.

His answer came a few minutes later when a stout officer unlocked and yanked open the cell door and barked, “You. You’re out. Move it.”

Levi bowed his head and followed the officer out.

He signed his paperwork. Yes, he’d attend his hearing. Yes, he knew the penalty for not doing so. Yes, he knew he couldn’t commit any more crimes. _When could you ever commit a crime, anyway?_ he thought bitterly. _Is it extra illegal now?_ Who the fuck came up with this shit?

There was nothing Levi wanted more than to get home and take a burning hot shower, but there were rules. One of them said that you didn’t ignore someone who just did you a favor and Levi was nothing if not proper. He made his way from downtown to a large, but mostly unused park. He found who he was looking for near a graffitied storm tunnel. Cliché, much? All they needed was a damn trench coat.

“Hey,” he said as he approached.

The figure that was leaning against the concrete wall rolled their head in Levi’s direction. They caught sight of him and snickered.

“The fuck?”

“Teaching kindergarten later?” they mocked.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your stupid outfit. You usually look the part of a pathetic, washed up thug, but this is outside of the usual.”

Levi looked down. In the natural light, he could see that the pants Erwin gave him were indeed a rather bright shade of denim blue. Mom jeans.

“Piss the fuck off,” he said without inflection.

“In a bit. Right now we need to talk about how much you owe.”

Levi groaned. “I thought we were good since he owed me anyway for taking care of that business with Jazzy.”

“Yeah, he thanks you for that. Which is why he’s only charging you half of your bail.”

“Fucking saint. How much is half?”

“Twenty-five hundred.”

Levi ground his teeth. They set his bail at five thousand? For robbing two hundred? Can no one count? _Fuck this fucking system_ , he cursed every officer, judge, and politician he could think of. Twenty-five hundred dollars was a lot to come by.

“When?” he asked.

“Since you’re such a pal,” they sneered, “let’s say by the end of the month.”

_It’s the twenty-second, you fucking dickwad._

\--

The key turned the rusty lock and opened up the little apartment. Levi headed straight to the shower. He discarded the mom jeans and the ugly flannel shirt that Erwin had given him in a little pile outside the bathroom, not yet sure if he would banish them to the dumpster for their atrocity or keep them out of necessity.

He soaped his hair and scrubbed his skin until it felt like he was filing his nails on his own body. He only exited the shower when the water grew luke-warm thirty minutes later.

Once dried and dressed, Levi rummaged through his kitchen cabinets. He hadn’t eaten before he’d gone out yesterday and his stomach clenched painfully at its emptiness.

He found some stale tortillas and a can of beans. He dug around in his pockets, expecting to find his good knife, the fancy one with the can-opener and the corkscrew. The one he had put in his backpack yesterday. The one that was now in police custody as evidence. Fuck.

He padded over to the entry and pulled his combat knife out of his sneakers. It was less than ideal for opening a can, and Levi worried about dulling the blade, but it’d have to do. He felt light-headed from not having eaten in 36 hours.

The beans cooked over the shitty electric burner while Levi sprinkled some water over the tortillas to soften them. He held a tortilla in each hand over another burner to warm them. It was almost a decent meal.

\--

It’s barely three in the afternoon when Levi flopped down on his mattress. Clean and his hunger satiated for the moment at least, he slept until the next morning when his stomach woke him.

He wasn’t sure when his stomach had become a Russian ballerina, but it flipped and squeezed at his insides painfully until Levi sat up in pain and pressed his arm against it to give the nerves something else to focus on.

The weak sunlight told Levi it was still early. He racked his mind. Thursday. What could he do on a Thursday?

He slipped his sneakers on and made his way through the mostly empty streets of the city, hiding how he clutched his stomach beneath his sweater.

 _That'll work,_ he thought.  _Thursday is stocking day at Kip's._

From the alley behind Kip’s Market, Levi could see two men unloading boxes from a delivery truck. He watched two rounds of them loading dollies and then disappearing into the store for no more than four minutes, as far as Levi could estimate. As soon as they vanished into the doorway, he darted across the way into the truck.

The truck was mostly empty, but there were three stacks of boxes left. From their labels, Levi knew he could choose between cereal, frozen meals, and freeze-dried mashed potatoes. The potatoes would be the lightest and easiest to run with, but probably the least nutritionally valuable. The cereal was in a similar position. Figuring the frozen meals probably had the highest caloric value, Levi grabbed that box and ran home.


	4. Old Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi tries to play an old trick, but didn’t account for the new player in the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddddddddddd we're back!
> 
> WARNING: Mentions of knives; allusions to cutting and stabbing.

Turkey dinner? _Not sure they know what dinner means_ , Levi thought as he divided up his bounty. _Not sure I know what dinner means. Aw, I made myself sad._ Six turkey dinners, four “Salisbury steaks” with vegetables, and four chicken alfredos. Lacking a microwave, he dumped the contents of a turkey dinner onto his sturdiest plate and slid it into the oven.

As he waited for his food to heat up, he drummed his fingers on the kitchen counter, trying to coerce his mind into hatching a plan. He ran through the city in his head, sifting through his contacts and his go-to spots, but Levi could think of no one that owed him a favor and nowhere that he was confident enough to hit up.

Levi ate standing at the counter. He let his mind drift through the streets of the city that he knew so well. He moved through back alleys and let himself through gates that only looked like they were locked. For practice, he hid himself from imaginary pursuers, making a pact with himself that he’d never get caught because of a wrong turn again.

His imagined scenario took him downtown and he retraced the walk he had taken from the police station to the park. As he recalled, he noticed a few blind spots in his memory—places where things were fuzzy. Was there a bank on that corner? Was 24th a one-way? Not liking the disadvantage that holes in his mental map gave him, Levi scrubbed his plate and made for downtown.

\--

He passed his familiar landmarks—the fire hydrant where he broke someone’s nose, the alley where he bought his first knife, his old school, the 88-story building in midtown where he’d once spent an evening in the penthouse.

Forty blocks from home, Levi began to come upon stores he didn’t recognize. He spotted a convenience store across the street with its “Grand Opening” banner hanging half-torn and lopsided. Taking that as a good omen, he made a quick mental sketch of the area and entered the small store.

Once inside, Levi stalked up and down the skinny aisles, watching the cashier from beneath his bangs. She looked matronly enough to give him her whole cash drawer if she thought it would be for a cup of hot soup, but like hell he’d credit the human race enough to trust a first impression. He headed toward the back of the store, listening hard to the cashier’s interactions with her customers to try and get a feel on how hard she would be to deal with.

When he first started, he hated the stares. Most people would stare at him a bit wide-eyed at first. Well, they’d stare at the knife in his hand first, then check with him to see if he meant his threat. Eventually, Levi figured out that the quickest way to get the job done was also the dirtiest—make them feel the knife. Pressed against their wrist, poking against their belly, just about any old way would do the trick. If they saw the knife, people panicked, fought back. But, if they felt it—if they realized that danger has already come so close, most people, Levi found, would just play dead. They’d do what he said and he would leave them alone. Simple.

But, that was most people.

From the produce section, Levi could only hear fragments of what sounded like an unremarkable series of interactions. He picked up a piece of broccoli, the browning crown only slightly off-putting to his craving for real nutrition. He pretended to examine the piece in his left hand while the right took another piece from the container and slipped it under his hoodie. He played the same trick on a bag of carrots and made his way back toward the front of the store.

He was about ready to conclude his survey with a final look behind the counter to check for a panic button or even a gun when someone else needed to get down the exact 2-foot wide aisle he was in. Despite being a relatively compact size, Levi had to press himself against the wire shelves to let the stranger pass. In that moment, he reached behind his back, grabbed a can of whatever, shoved it into his back pocket, and pulled his hoodie down to cover the conspicuous shape.

As he was shoving and pulling, he realized that the stranger had stopped, their body flush with his. He heard a breathy laugh and had to stifle a groan as he lifted his head and found the shiny “Smith” nameplate at his eye level.

“Levi. Fancy that.”

“Gotta go.”

“Yes, you seem to do that a lot.”

“Kay,” Levi said as he shimmied his way out of the cramped space.

“Wait, please,” Erwin called after him. “I just meant to say hello. How are you doing?”

“How am I doing? What’s it to you?”

“Well, you have your first court date in a few weeks. As the arresting officer, I’ll have to be present as well. I’d really hate to waste a whole morning at the courthouse if you’re going to ditch. I talked to Dana again, and I know this isn’t your first rodeo. According to your record, I’ve got about a fifty percent chance of you showing up. But still, I wanted to know how you’re doing. Does that clear things up?” he asked, leaning down slightly.

“Easy there, Tex,” Levi said, narrowing his eyes in contempt.

One corner of Erwin’s mouth twisted into a smile. “So?”

“So what?”

“Are you always this difficult?” Erwin said as he cocked his head.

“Are you always this unaware of personal space?” Levi backed away again and Erwin straightened up, smoothing out the wrinkles of his uniform shirt.

“Why are you here, anyway?” Levi asked.

“I just got off and this place is on my way home from work.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting home, then?”

“I’ll get there when I get there. What about you? According to your file, this is quite a ways from the last address we have you at.”

“Is shopping a fucking crime now? Do we live in such a police state that I can only look for shit within a half mile radius of my apartment or I’ll be brought in for questioning?”

“No, but if you’re shopping, why don’t you have anything in a basket?”

Levi’s pockets had begun to feel rather heavy. “They don’t have the thing I wanted.”

“Levi. You don’t need to lie to me.”

“What the fu—“

“You were arrested for robbery. You don’t strike me as an adrenaline junkie, so I take it that you didn’t do that for the thrill of it. Money can’t be good for you right now. May I buy you a few things?”

He was not often surprised by people, but for the first time in a while, Levi was stunned into silence.

“Sure, whatever,” Levi said after a moment.

Erwin went about the store, picking up his own things. Levi chose several more vegetables, some Gatorade, eggs, and some oatmeal and placed them neatly on the check-out counter.

“You really don’t have to do this,” he said as Erwin paid.

Erwin smiled at the cashier, then at Levi. “Don’t worry about it. Just take care of yourself, Levi.”

He twisted his mouth, turning over words that sounded far too kind to be given to some pig, even if that pig had just done something decidedly un-pig-like. He kept his mouth shut, nodding instead.

“I’ll see you in a few weeks at the first hearing,” Erwin reminded him as he grabbed his bag of groceries and turned to leave.

Levi nodded again and walked out the door. As he did so, a loud chirping sound went off.

“Hey!” came the shout from behind him.

Levi bolted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I have never stopped thinking about this fic. What I have been doing is settling into a new job. Life is quite busy right now, but I promise I will finish this fic.  
> I always have time to talk to new people. Come say hello! the-barkeep-is-my-spirit-animal.tumblr.com


	5. Old Habits Die Hard or Not at All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello peeps, jeeps, and creeps! Thank you so much for all the comments last chapter. I read every one of them and they really make my day. <3

The late afternoon sun was bright in Levi’s eyes as he ran toward home. He wove in and out of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle when one became too slow or too congested for his taste, ignoring the offended huffs of walkers and the glares of drivers. Ten blocks or so from the convenience store, he felt his panic begin to subside and melt into the rhythm of running.

He pushed himself forward despite the bag of groceries swinging into his hip painfully with each stride. Coaxing the cogs of his mind into motion, he replayed the events of the last two days in his head, dawdling only a moment to wonder how a simple stick-up had gotten him in deep with the leader of a janky gang who thought himself entitled to demand money from a man to whom he already owed a favor. _Cocky, disgusting son of a bitch,_ Levi’s inner voice snarled. _Ever heard of reciprocity?_ He drowned himself in the vortex of his loathing for a while until something caught his eye as he tore through the intersection of 59th and Market.

Crawling through the afternoon traffic was one police cruiser, manned by one unamused-looking officer. The sunlight glinting off the light blonde hair gave Levi all the confirmation he needed. He sprinted out of the crosswalk, hoping that the swarm of taller people also crossing the street would cover him. He didn’t look back; he didn’t need to. Erwin’s words, “the last address we have you at” tumbled around in his head, crashing into his plans, and utterly obliterating any trace of optimism that might have snaked its way in as he made his escape.

He pounced on the sidewalk like a jungle cat jumping from a tree, hoping with every fiber of his being that was capable of hoping that he wouldn’t have to deal with another load of blonde bullshit. His hope carried him another six or seven steps until he heard the blare of sirens and the revving of an engine in his direction.

Levi scrambled up the street, focused only on the steps to his apartment building fifty meters away, thirty, ten. He rammed his shoulder into the door in the vain hope that it wasn’t latched. Luckless, he punched the code in. The loud buzzing that accompanied the door’s unlocking masked the sound of barreling footsteps on the stairs behind him.

Erwin lunged to catch the door before it slammed shut and locked behind Levi. In doing so, he caught Levi’s heel and sent him reeling forward, his bag of groceries falling from his arms and spilling their contents onto the ground. Levi inhaled sharply in surprise and whirled to meet his pursuer, clenched fist rising up.

Erwin leaned back to avoid the blow and caught Levi’s wrist. “Does this mean you are finished running?”

“I run from bullshit laws that say people can starve if they don’t have enough money. I run from pigs that enforce them. But, I don’t run from a fight,” Levi spat as he wrenched his wrist from Erwin’s grip.

“I am not here to fight you.”

“Oh yeah? Then what do you want? Because unless this is my chance to shut you up once and for all, I don’t want you here. In which case, you are trespassing, asshole.”

Erwin actually laughed at that.

“I,” he began, smirk turning to severity. “Am an officer of the law. A law that I, myself, witnessed you breaking on several counts. I do not need a warrant nor probable cause to enter a building that I have seen a fleeing criminal enter. So not only do I have the right to enter your residence, I have substantial evidence to justify your arrest. I have exactly zero problem with cuffing you right now, taking you back to jail and tossing you into that little cell until your hearing.”

Levi ground his teeth.

“Are you really not above scare tactics? And lame ones at that? Somehow, I thought you more resourceful than that. Yeah, I think I’ll pass,” Levi ducked and slid past Erwin in a single, fluid movement.

“Why do you keep forcing me to do this?” Erwin sighed as he whipped around to see Levi already out the door and heading down the stairs.

He bounded down the stairs after him and using the third to last step as a springboard, leapt to tackle his evader. He wrapped his arms around Levi’s torso and used his momentum to bring them both crashing to the ground.

“JESUS, MAN!”

Erwin planted the heel of his hand on Levi’s back to keep him down and looked up, confused.

The onlooker that had shouted was now pulling out his cell phone and pointing it at their little scene.

“Don’t try anything! I have you on camera!”

Erwin did his best to maintain his composure, but his long shift this morning and this escapade taxed his patience down to the last iota. He rolled his eyes and leaned down to speak into Levi’s ear.

“And now we have an audience. I had hoped to make this easier, but with things shaping up as they are, we’ll need to go according to protocol.”

“Are you telling me flying kicks are not in the police handbook, dickwheel?”

Erwin chuckled again as he pulled his handcuffs from his belt and slid them onto Levi’s wrists. He pulled up the less-than-pliant accused once again and dragged him into his cruiser.

\--

Levi slumped in the backseat, watching the city go by in perfect silence.

As he pulled up to a long line at a stop light, Erwin cleared his throat, “Or.”

Levi twitched his eyebrow slightly but made no move nor sound to indicate a response.

Erwin adjusted his rearview mirror to see Levi through the grate. “You didn’t let me finish before.”

Levi had heard enough people talk out of their asses before that he knew that he didn’t need to respond to hear where this was going. Erwin clearly had something he wanted to say and Levi’s presence, willing or not, was sufficient for him to continue with whatever bullshit he was about to spout.

“So we can do what I described before and you’ll stay in jail until a judge sees you and I will go home and not lose a minute of sleep, knowing that I did exactly as my job prescribes.” He spoke without a note of warmth.

“Or.” Erwin’s eyes flashed in the rearview mirror.

“Or you can tell me what this is all about.”

_Wow. He’s a bullshit fountain._

No scoff, no glare, no amount of eye-rolling could convey the extent of Levi’s disdain for this moron and his naivety. He opted to furrow his brows even deeper and let his silence speak for him.

“Fine,” Erwin said as the moment passed. “You’ll have company in the little cell at least. When I left we had a couple of drunkards who were sobering up, a domestic abuser, and a petty thief. You guys can have a sleepover and swap stories.”

Levi rubbed his temples.

\--

Night had begun to settle in as they pulled through midtown traffic. Levi idly wondered why Erwin didn’t turn on the sirens. He craned his neck to look up at the skyscrapers. As darkness crept into the city, the chatter on the police radio became more frequent. Levi eavesdropped on officers’ response to an auto break-in, a traffic accident, a suspected drug deal and a smattering of other things. He was nearly lulled by the droning when a name on the radio jerked him back to attention.

“Think this is Jelly. We’ll confirm when we bring him in,” said an officer to control.

“10-4 Morrison. That would be one of Sandman’s guys. Any ID on him?”

“Negative. We’ll do it at the station.”

Levi bit his lip and considered. _To hell with it._ He felt defeated.

“Okay,” he broke the silence.

Erwin glanced in the rearview mirror, eyebrows raised.

“I’ll tell you some things,” he said heavily.

Erwin turned the car back toward the middle of the city. 


	6. I'll Fuck You Over if I want to. But Maybe I Don't?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow...If you are still reading this...fucking mega kudos to you and I love you more than I can tell you. I want to tell you that I read all of your comments; I love every single one of them and they are what has made me keep going with this fic. The next chapter will have actual *interaction* if you will and I will not take more than a year to post it. You have my word!

“Woah there, buddy. I said we could talk. That was it,” Levi sassed, leaning against the cruiser in a Denny’s parking lot as Erwin removed his utility belt.

Erwin shook his head. “The belt is a bit of a give-away and I really hate the stares,” he said as he placed his belt in the trunk of the cruiser and rummaged around for something else.

“Can you at least take these off first?” Levi jingled his handcuffs.

Erwin straightened up and looked Levi in the eye, questioning. Levi responded by jingling his handcuffs some more. Erwin fished his keys from his belt and unlocked the cuffs, placing them quietly in his front pants pocket instead of back on his belt. He pulled a sweatshirt over his head and bid, “Shall we?” gesturing toward the brightly lit restaurant. 

They slid into a booth and were handed their menus. Levi contorted his face into a deep frown and griped at the sticky discoloration on his laminated menu.

“So,” Erwin started as he scanned his menu.

“So what?” Levi answered, not enthused by the impending topic of conversation. He had bargained his way into this situation and he now had to follow through if he didn’t want to spend the next two weeks locked up. But he could, at least, control how much and which information he divulged.

“We’re here because of you. I thought I’d be home watching television in my underwear by now. But, I’m here,” Erwin motioned his eyes around the dining room. “With you. Why are we here?”

“Well, fuck. It’s weird when you put it like that.”

“This whole thing is weird and against protocol. I’m risking something fairly serious for you and I don’t even know you.” Erwin looked at him dead-on and said severely, “So, once again, will you please tell me why we are here?”

Levi acknowledged his question with a short nod, but made no sound. He kept his eyes downcast until the sound of footfalls behind him made him jerk to look around. Their waitress approached and Erwin ordered a hamburger and coffee.

“What about you, hun?” she said as she turned.

“Uh. Same is fine. Thanks,” Levi said as he handed over his menu and only source of distraction. Well, that’s not entirely true; he could always make a pyramid out of the creamers or draw in a pile of salt. But, at the risk of pissing off the man who had tackled him thrice in the same number of days, he spoke. “What do you want to know?”

Erwin let out a breath of exasperation. “I don’t have any idea, Levi. I want to know whatever you want to tell me—whatever will help you or me or both.”

“I don’t know anything like that.”

“Fine. Let’s start with the basics. Why did you rob that convenience store two days ago?”

“I needed the money.”

“Why can’t you work?”

“I do work, ass-hat.”

“Then why would you steal?”

“Because working isn’t enough.”

“Huh.” Erwin paused and sat back in the booth. “So what do you do then?”

“I’m a sub for the school district,” Levi answered.  
“You’re a teacher?” he asked in genuine surprise.  
Levi tsked. “Yeah. Just because I broke the law doesn’t automatically make me a bad person. Got that, dickhead? I did whatever I had to do to make it work. Sometimes I could get by, sometimes I couldn’t. I never took more than I needed.”  
“So how does that work with your criminal record?”  
“Not getting caught makes it easy. But, you just had to make it real fucking difficult for me.”  
“Levi, you were in the system before I brought you in.”  
“Yeah. Twice. Little shit, like I said. But, anyway, both of those happened after I got hired with the district. I don’t know if they just have their heads up their asses or what but they never said anything about it, so neither did I.”  
“What do you teach?”  
“Usually gym, but I’ve done science a few times and English once or twice.”  
“Have you got a favorite of those?”  
“Nah.”  
“Is that the whole story, then? You needed money so you took it and you don’t like people getting in your way?”  
Levi bit the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”  
Erwin reached down to his pants pocket and jingled the metal of the handcuffs. “Well, if that is all, you’re not very interesting to me.”

“The fuck?” Levi’s upper lip curled at the insult as the waitress brought their food and coffee over.

“You bargained with me, Levi,” Erwin said as he bit his burger. “You said you would tell me some things, make this whole thing worth my while. But, all I know is a boring story that I could have come up with myself while writing your booking report.”

Levi watched his eyes widen in the black reflection from his coffee cup. “You’re still planning on taking me in?”

“I have monthly quota, Levi. If you think that I’d give up points toward my promotion for a complete stranger, you’d be tragically mistaken.”

Fuuuuuuuck me. Fuck you, asshole.

“You know the fucker on the radio?” Levi started.

“Who? 93.1 Jack FM? NPR? What are you talking about, Levi?”

“No, dumbass. The fucker on your radio...when we were driving.”  
“My radio? … Oh on the police channel?” Erwin closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead in an attempt to conjure the memories forward. “Which part?”

“The bit where they said that they got one of Sandman’s guys. Fucking Jelly or something. It’s possible that I...”

Erwin leaned over the table, “You what, Levi?”

“It’s possible that I know him. Or he knows me. Or whatever. “

Erwin pushed back from the table and landed against the booth back with a thud. “Well that’s just great. What am I supposed to do with that?”

Levi couldn’t contain the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise. They quickly fell into position for Levi to glare as the heat of anger collected in his gut.

What the fucking fuck does this have to do with you? I am just trying to do the bare minimum to save my own ass and you give me this shit? I am so sick of your bullshit, pretty boy.What the fuck do you want me to say?

While Levi picked out his favorite swear words to sling at Erwin, Erwin spoke first.

“No, I mean it. What exactly do you want me to do now? What can I do with this information? More than that what should I do? You’re surprised that I am angry? How the hell did you expect me to react?”

“Honestly, I don’t care one way or the other what you do with it. I’m just trying to figure out how to keep you distracted long enough that you don’t take me back to the brightly lit shithole.”

“Well, if that’s your game, you’re going to have to play it a bit less close to the chest.”

Levi ripped through the bun and patty of his burger, regardless of the meat juices that ran down his chin.

“I don’t want your help, asshole,” he said between bites.

“I didn’t wake up today seeking yours either, Levi. But this is the situation we find ourselves in. We’d be wise to make the best of it.”

Snorting his reply, “what would you and I ever be on the same page about? I am just trying to live and you want me dead.”

Erwin dropped the fry he was holding. “Why would you say that? It’s not true at all.”

“I am just another mark in your book. If you bring me in, or better yet, book me for something big, I’m just another checkmark on the way to getting your promotion. That’s all you see me as. 

“Levi…” Erwin took a breath and tried to meet Levi’s gaze.

“No, it’s fine, as long as I get something in return. How do you think I’ve survived all these years?”

“Do you think we could be of mutual use to each other, Erwin?” Levi said, looking up through his bangs.

Levi repeated himself, “I’ll tell you some things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortly coming, the chapter in which they actually communicate and get somewhere!!


	7. Which Impression is More Correct? The One I Made Half a Second After Meeting You or The One I Made Half a Day After Meeting You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi struggles to decide how much of himself he will reveal. Erwin gets fed up. Levi is a cheeky dick who gets himself in trouble again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR DISCUSSION OF BLOOD AND WOUNDS  
> It is not meant to be gorey by any means, but it could be seen as slightly graphic.

“Some,” Levi emphasized “things.” His voice sounded stronger than his racing thoughts allowed him to feel. His mind swirled with the details and secrets that had brought him to this point. They left him dizzy and unsure of which thought to latch onto as a starting point. He couldn’t very well spill his guts to Erwin, someone he had just met. 

 

Or was there safety still to be found in their relative anonymity to each other? If Erwin didn’t have any way to find him afterward, Levi could tell him everything he needed to know. He could make sure that the police got the full details. And after that he could disappear and leave justice in the hands of the system.

 

_ Hah. _

 

Erwin kept his stare fixed on the remaining bites of hamburger in front of him. “If you don’t start talking soon, I’m leaving. I’ll put in a call for some other officer to pick you up. And I wouldn’t count on them being as…” he pulled a hidden pickle from under the patty and discarded it, “gentle as I have been.”

 

Levi felt his lower back ache at the memory of being pinned to the ground under such a behemoth of a man no less than three times. 

 

“If that’s gentle, Smith, I hope you’re walking on fucking eggshells with anyone you actually care about.”

 

Erwin stretched his arm out to motion their waitress to come over. “We’ll have the check, please.”

 

\--

 

Levi followed Erwin back to his cruiser, at a loss for what else to do. When he saw Erwin reaching for his radio, he grabbed his wrist and sent the radio clattering to the floor.

 

“What are you doing?” Levi asked in contempt.

 

“Exactly what I said I would do, unlike you. Hell, I gave you a ‘Get out of jail free’ card and you wasted your chance. That’s all I’ve got, Levi. You haven’t proven anything to me. You haven’t given me any useful information. I thought you were a simple case, but now I find out that you have relations to gang activity? I can’t ignore that. And since you won’t tell me anything more, this is what I have to do.”

 

Levi could only stare at the ground as Erwin clicked the handcuffs around his wrists and the sounds of sirens in the distance drew closer.

 

\--

 

A firm kick to the small of his back propelled him forward into the small holding cell. As Levi whipped around to curse at the officer who had kicked his injured spot, he heard a low voice creak out his name.

 

“Leeeevi,” it came from the other side of the cell.

 

One eye peered out from a mat of stringy hair that hung down beyond the man’s hollow cheeks. He wore a thick leather jacket and heavy boots that made a metallic clang as he walked. His gaze remained fixed on Levi as he crossed the short distance of the cell.

 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Haven’t heard much from you in a few months. It’s like you just…” he tilted his head, letting his greasy hair fall away to reveal a set of dull grey eyes. “Disappeared,” he said, his breath hissing around the word.

 

The last time he had seen Jelly had indeed been months ago, at a follow-up report. He had stood in the corner, silent beside his boss. If he had formed any opinion at that point, neither his face nor his body language had betrayed it as Levi had given his report.

 

“I’ve always been around. I just stopped looking for jobs for awhile.”

 

“That’s too bad,” Jelly said, a sick smile twisting its way up his cheeks, until it found a home in the cruel sparkle of his eyes. “We have missed your skills.”

 

“I’d bet you missed my efficiency more than anything,” Levi said, lost in the memory of the last time he had met the man, of the last job he’d done. 

 

“That was certainly a perk. But enough chit chat. If I recall correctly, you are on our books. I wasn’t planning on seeing to you myself,” he spoke slowly, “but you know what a fan I am of…what was your word?” He rotated his head around the axis of his neck, small cracks every second. “Efficiency.”

 

Levi shook himself from his memories. And he couldn’t help the set of his lips into a displeased line. After everything else, he wouldn’t even be able to get some rest in the brightly lit shithole. He’d either spend all night watching his back or need to deal with Jelly now. Neither sounded particularly restful and fuck all if Levi didn’t want to just close his eyes for a minute before the next truckload of shit dumped itself on him.

 

But here he was, buried neck-deep in shit. The best he could do right now was try not to dig himself any deeper. He took a deep breath and began--

 

There was a click then a flash of metal. It started from the corner of his eye and blurred into the center of his vision before coming up near his belly. He instinctively rocked back on his heels and folded his body away from it, keeping his balance but being shocked by the surprise attack nonetheless.

 

Jelly staggered on one foot as his kicking foot fell to the ground, not having reached its target with the force that he anticipated. Levi saw the small point of metal protruding from his shoe, the switchblade that he had hidden. He took the half a second of Jelly’s falling to position himself behind him. Jelly planted both feet back on the ground and whipped himself around to face Levi. As he turned, his jaw was met with an unflinching fist that struck hard and low, pushing into the soft tissue of his neck and in all likelihood, throwing off that nice chiropractic alignment he had done only a minute ago.

 

Jelly fell to the floor in a heap. Levi watched his eyes roll back in his head before he passed out. He gave him a short, sharp kick in his gut for good measure. 

 

_ Stay down. It’s too late for this shit. _

 

Apparently the thud of a 200 pound man is the sonic threshold that one must reach before one can get the attention of jail cops. But a bit of scuffling before that is far too innocuous for their precious attention. 

 

Ten seconds of shuffling and jingling keys later, “Oy. What the fuck you think you’re doing in there?” the officer yelled into the cell.

 

Levi glanced over at the pile that was Jelly then back to the officer. He shrugged, “Shhhhh...I think he’s asleep.”

 

“Don’t get fucking smart with me. What did you do?”

 

“Dodged, mostly. Can’t say the same for him.”

 

“Damn it. That’s just great. Really fucking great,” the officer mumbled as he reached for his radio. “Medical, we’re gonna need you up here. Bring a stretcher to take one for eval. Call the doc and ask her to get here as soon as she can” he spoke into the radio.

 

\--

 

As they rolled Jelly out on the stretcher Levi looked down at the blade that jutted several inches out of the front of his shoe.  _ What kind of Bond henchman bullshit does this guy think he’s pulling?  _ It was a thick piece of tapered metal with sharp but smooth edges and on one edge was a coating of dark blood that covered the length of the blade.

 

Blood.

 

Blood.

 

Had he been hit? He hadn’t felt any pain and he had thought that he had moved enough out of the way of the path of the knife. He scanned his sweater for any sign of blood. He patted down his chest, looking for tenderness. He patted down the front of his ribs and along his belly, then back up his sides and ah--there. He winced a bit, less from pain and more from the realization that he’d been compromised. His fingers found a small opening between his ribs on his left side, only an inch or two wide and not bleeding much. He traced the path from his body through his shirt and then through the sweater, finding a hole in the fabric, but again not much blood.

 

The door to the cell slid shut and was locked without another word or glance in Levi’s direction.

 

Levi considered himself. He’d had plenty of scratches and even stab wounds before. He knew that if they didn’t hit anything vital, the shallow ones were rarely important. Since he wasn’t gushing blood, he knew they hadn’t hit a major blood vessel. He lifted up his shirt to inspect the wound. The bright fluorescents that hung above him bleached the colors so that every part of him looked a sickly yellow. No change, no danger, right?

 

Well then, that was that. He’d keep his hand over the wound and figure it out in the morning. Right now all he wanted was to go to sleep. And a glass of water. His head ached and he couldn’t see straight anymore. He curled up on the stainless steel “bed” and was unconscious before he could think of how uncomfortable it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well sometimes I do feel bad about unfinished projects. So here I am again!
> 
> Stab wounds do not tend to bleed a lot. But that doesn't mean they're not dangerous. I would give someone a lot of props if they could figure out what's going on with Levi based on location of injury and symptoms.

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? Hate it? Tell me!! (please don't hate it...I tried.)  
> In the comments or at  
> the-barkeep-is-my-spirit-animal.tumblr.com


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